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    GlassPoint, MA'ADEN planning 1.5-GW Solar Steam plant to support Saudi Alumina plant

    June 3, 2022
    MA'ADEN says its Solar 1 will be the world’s largest solar process heat plant with the ability to reduce the carbon footprint of the refinery by more than 50%. It will also reduce MA'ADEN's carbon emissions by more than 600,000 tons annually
    Image credit MA'ADEN
    Ma Adden Alumina 629a5902d1d80

    Saudi Arabian mining firm MA'ADEN has signed a memorandum of understanding with industrial solar steam generators firm GlassPoint to establish a 1,500-MW solar steam facility at its Alumina refinery in Ras al Khair, Saudi Arabia.

    MA'ADEN says its Solar 1 will be the world’s largest solar process heat plant with the ability to reduce the carbon footprint of the refinery by more than 50%. It will also reduce MA'ADEN's overall carbon footprint by 4%, reducing carbon emissions by more than 600,000 tons per year.

    The solar steam facility will use solar power to produce steam, which will be used to refine the bauxite ore into alumina – a critical feedstock to Aluminum – developing a sustainable way to make aluminum.

    "As the third pillar of the Saudi economy, we aspire to be a role model in ESG in the Kingdom,”

    Robert Wilt, CEO of MA'ADEN, said in a statement. “This significant development will dramatically reduce our carbon footprint and bring us closer to our mandate of carbon neutrality by 2050. As the world moves towards green aluminum, MA'ADEN intends to help lead the way in this transition."

    Alumina, or aluminum oxide, is a crystalline substance used in the smelting of aluminum metal. Ninety percent of the alumina produced is consumed in the production of aluminum, according to industrial sources.

    "MA'ADEN is leading the way to reduce industrial carbon emissions at scale by replacing fossil fuels with solar power to create heat. This facility when built will be the largest industrial solar steam plant in the world and the first deployed in both Saudi Arabia and in the aluminum supply chain," said Rod MacGregor, CEO and founder of GlassPoint. "With this MOU, GlassPoint is entering a new phase of growth to help decarbonize a range of industries seeking to lower their carbon footprint."

    About the Author

    EnergyTech Staff

    Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

    Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    He can be reached at [email protected]. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.